"Natural Beauty and Stunning History" a Croatia Travel Page by KristaB

Croatia is diverse and beautiful. The history of this region is full of amazing stories since ancient times. Caravans of people traveling to discover new territories passed through and many left their marks and their genes here.

This is most obvious in Dalmatia - coastal region and islands. The oldest Croatian cities are Hvar (Pharos - established by Greeks from island Paros in 385/4 B.C.)) and Vis (Issa - name originates from pre-Indo-European inhabitants). Both were important ports and trade centers first for Greeks, then also for Roman Empire.

Another amazing historic discovery is Vucedol culture, it's remains were found 300 km from Zagreb, by the banks of river Danube. Archaeologists have found a pot decorated with a calendar depicting a precise astral calendar (other ancient calendars usually represent the movements of the Moon) and from this detailed graphic, and by comparing it with Sumerian, Egyptian, Indian and other ancient calendars, experts concluded that it originates from around 2600 BC and is probably the oldest European calendar.

You don't need to know much about history, just let yourself immerse into the atmosphere, observe amusing mixture of architectures from all eras piled up - sometimes in one wall.

Even people living in continental areas of Croatia do have a certain Mediterranean "twist" of easy going attitude, so you will hear "nema problema" being said many and probably too many times. No fuss. Relax.

Mythology and fairytales can offer a glimpse into the spirit of a nation:
Croatian Tales Of Long Ago
Look for the link to Croatian mythology.

The characters are very different from those well known Greek and Roman gods - simply because they originate from much earlier times, when the Croat tribe left the far cold North of Indo-European continent, moved through Central Asia to the region of Pamir mountain, then over Caucasus, Krim, Carpathian mountains through Panonean flatland to the area of today's Nin, Knin and Solin. Here they became dominant over Romans, Ilirians and Slavs.

They had their own writing - glagolic alphabet, which slowly vanished after conversion to Christianity.

Recent history wasn't kind to Croats, you probably know about the tragic war which killed thousands of people and devastated country's economy.
Tourism was mayor contributor to Croatian wealth, and suddenly hotels and beaches were empty, thousands of families living from tourism were left without any income for years. Even when the war was over, people were reluctant to come - it isn't a pleasant sight to observe homes ruined by grenades while driving to your holiday destination.
There are still such sad reminders of human madness scattered in some areas, but life goes on, and people are doing their best to renovate their homes.
But I still feel the damage that was done to their souls - it takes time to heal, regain trust and become optimistic about the future.